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Chapter 278
Futures (フューチャーズ Fyūchāzu) is the 278th chapter of manga, Baby Steps. Characters in Order of Appearance *Eiichiro Maruo *Soji Ike *Pete Gonzales' Father *Pete Gonzales *Alex O'Brien *Atsushi Taira Summary The day before the Bradenton Open, Ike tells Eiichiro how Pete becomes a tennis player. Synopsis It's the day before the Bradenton Open and while waiting for Ike, Ei-chan does that first eye test he'd done. When Ike arrives, Ei-chan says he has to return the key to the room, so Ike says he'll go ahead to the car park. The iVision Leaderboard now lists Ei-chan as the leader for the Concentration Board at 15 secs (21) and for the Rotary Pursuit at 10 feet (33), displacing Pete. But for the Concentration Board, Pete is still listed as the leader at 25 secs. On the drive home, Ike comments that it's finally tomorrow and Ei-chan's first-round opponent is Pete. Ei-chan says he hasn't beaten him even once during practice. Ike notes Pete is a guy who's going to become quite strong in their generation. When Eichan asks if Ike knows Pete, Ike says Pete was the first guy he'd gotten friendly with when he came to Florida, though Pete was still playing baseball. Ike relates Pete's story, how his father had been quite a good baseball player up to high school but hadn't been able to go pro and worked over 30 years as staff of his hometown baseball team. When Pete's father noticed that Pete was the most talented among the 5 siblings, he trained Pete from morning to night in baseball starting from childhood, and by the time Pete was 13 the scouts of the baseball teams in his area had their eyes on him. Around that time, Pete's father noticed Florida Academy (now IMG Academy) because though its scope was small, it had adopted progressive exercise and mental training. Even though it only had a tennis program then, it hired a baseball specialist for Pete's sake, which became the foundation of IMG's baseball program. But since Pete's family isn't well-off, they didn't have enough even though his father took a loan from relatives. His mother and older siblings worked to raise funds for Pete's training. In his family, Pete was given preference in everything: quiet when Pete was sleeping; exclusive use of the family car; food... It was intense and only during the times Pete played tennis with Ike during breaks in Florida Academy could he forget everything. Comparing the 14-year-old Pete to now, Ike says he's completely different, that he used to be tense and unapproachable, because he'd been bound firmly by the expectations of not just his family and relatives, but also his school and hometown. Because of that, when he was 15 at a state baseball tournament, he got into a big fight after he was hit by the baseball on the shoulder when it was his turn at bat, and he nearly hurt people badly. Pete realized he couldn't take the pressure and told his parents he wanted to quit baseball. The outcome was he was able to continue the tennis he liked with the remaining money that had been paid to Florida Academy, even though he disappointed a lot of people. That caught the coaches' attention and the coaching fees were immediately waived. Three years later, he reached the finals of the US Open Juniors. Ike concludes Pete might be better suited to tennis than baseball. Ei-chan comments that in the picture Pete had shown him, everyone had looked close, so he hadn't known something like that had happened. Ike says he'd also seen it and it seems it was a picture from a party just a few days ago with all Pete's relatives when Pete received the advance payment on contract money from a sports equipment maker that had secretly scouted him. Ike notes there are all sorts of guys over here. That night Ei-chan reviews his notes and thinks that in the one and a half months of training with Pete, Pete always looked like he was enjoying tennis, but it wasn't because he was freed of all that pressure since he's still bearing pressure and nothing much has changed from that time. The difference is that it's Pete's choice. Once Pete had been crushed by the unrelenting pressure, but after he discovered tennis, he chose to bear it again even though he knows the weight. Pete chose that way of life, to shoulder that life and his family's expectations. Ei-chan thinks he has to defeat a guy who's living that way—then he immediately corrects himself, that he "wants to defeat" him. The next day Alex arrives at IMG to register for the tournament as No.32—and he's greeted by Ei-chan who assigns him court No.8 for practice. Alex demands what Eichan is doing, and Ei-chan explains he's manning the reception desk. Alex counters that Maruo's also a participant, isn't he? They're overheard by staff who say they hadn't known that Ei-chan who works with them was such a strong player that he's taking part in a big tournament. Another guy says because Ei-chan learns his jobs quickly and is polite and punctual, he'd thought Ei-chan's main focus was his job. The first guy adds that since Ei-chan came, ball management has been surprisingly punctual and even the coaches are happy. Ei-chan doesn't quite get what they're saying, just the gist that he's being praised. Atsushi says that though Ei-chan isn't very good with words, he's loved ... or maybe that's why he's loved. The woman says Ei-chan's been helping out with preparations since morning and he's been a big help, so it's all right for him to go and practice now. They add that everyone on staff is rooting for him, so he's to do his best. Ei-chan thanks them. Pete's told by his nephew to do his best and Pete says to leave it to him. The umpire announces the first round of the Bradenton Open will be a 3-set match between Pete and Ei-chan with Pete's service play. Ei-chan thinks he has enough data on Pete's serves. End of chapter. Navigation Category:Volume 29 Category:Training at IMG Academy Arc